Chrysler bit the bullet and filed Chapter 11. Now, it has used the power of the Bankruptcy Court to cut through the Gordian knot of myriad state franchise laws protecting and effectively making permanent its ongoing commercial relationships with local… Continue Reading
Apparently, the Governator will today propose selling San Quentin State Prison. And the Los Angeles Colosseum, and the Cow Palace, and a few other choice properties owned by the state. All in the hopes of generating up to a billion… Continue Reading
Jon Huntsman is a possible candidate for President in 2012? I’d not really thought about it, but I have to admit that he’s stepping up to say something in a real leadership capacity today. (People have to start getting his… Continue Reading
A while back, I wrote about what seemed to be a clever idea: One alternative idea I heard on NPR today [September 26, 2008] was a suggestion that a change in the bankruptcy code, perhaps drafted with a very short… Continue Reading
The President has ordered his Cabinet to find ways to cut $100 million out of each of their budgets. I am unimpressed. So is the Washington press corps. When the President signs and applauds a budget bill with $8 billion… Continue Reading
Dave Schuler, as so often, hits the nail right on the head — even if we had universal health care, we’d still be paying an astronomical amount of money for health care because health care providers will not accept pay… Continue Reading
On the one hand, it’s pretty clear that there needs to be a profound shakeup at General Motors. Rick Waggoner has run the company into the ground — perhaps he was overtaken by forces much larger than the company, but… Continue Reading
Barack Obama not only says he’s against marijuana decriminalization, he dismisses the idea as unserious and unworthy of discussion. He is wrong and worse, his tone likely set the idea back years. Hope and change, people. Hope and change. Congressional… Continue Reading
First, some Constitutional vocabulary. A “bill of attainder” is a law that punishes specific individuals without benefit of trial. A “taking” is when the government takes something from you without “due process of law,” which usually means either giving you… Continue Reading
That’s right. You’ll see it on the news tomorrow. But you read it here first. Tomorrow, the Congressional Budget Office will forecast that the 2009-2010 federal budget will run at a staggering, unbelievable, mind-blowing, and scarcely comprehensible two trillion dollar… Continue Reading